A Monument to All Your Sins – Complete each Campaign Mission on Legendary – alone.

Banshees, Fast and Low – Hijack a Banshee during the Reach Campaign.

Yes, Sensei – Earn a First Strike Medal in a Matchmaking game.

A New Challenger – Complete all of the Daily Challenges in a given day.

Make It Rain – Purchase an item from the Armory that requires the rank of Lt. Colonel

If They Came to Hear Me Beg – Perform an Assassination against an Elite to survive a fall that would’ve been fatal.

(note the rest of the achievements are to be released gradually...)

The gamer points are worth the standard 1000 achievement points. No doubt this will be raised with the inevitable Halo Reach Downloadable Content that will be released....

There will be 49 total Achievements in Reach. Twenty-three of them are Campaign-specific Achievements.

Achievements were bucketed into five different groups, Campaign (23), Firefight (7), Multiplayer (4), Training (6) and Player Experience (9). Some of the Training Achievements can be earned in both Campaign and Firefight.

I wonder what will be unlocked when the 1000 achievement points will be reached. Originally, with Halo 3 was it was the Katana blade. Which ironically was much sought after but now the player is just simply considered a blow hard. I imagine the same thing will happen.

Myth on the internet: Sketch called the Falcon, the “Warthog of the Skies.” Does that mean we’re going to get to pilot it in campaign and multi player? Myth no more. Bungie says "Truth: Yup." oh... Reach campaign has a helicopter mission.....

Bungie also answered a very interesting question about spartan ranking in Team Noble:

Question: "Hey! Why do the members of Noble Team have higher ranks than the other Spartans I’m familiar with, like the Master Chief?"

Answer: As NOBLE tends to operate much more closely with non-augmented personnel than Blue, Red, et al ever did, NOBLE's CO decided that his team shouldn't have to worry about some Oscar Sierra light-switch they might run into in the field trying to start calling the shots or otherwise alter OP parameters mid-mission.

TeamXbox asked Frank O'Conner soemthing that's been on everyone's mind since the Reach Trailer:“Will enemies sound grittier and meaner, instead of cutesy? The game seems darker than other Halo games.”Frank O’Connor: It is…I hate the use of the word “gritty,” because it sounds like shorthand for Gears of War, and it’s nothing like that. It’s definitely darker in tone; it’s a very tragic story to begin with. I mean, we talked about it as a kind of Thermopylae/Pearl Harbor scenario, where we know that everything’s gonna go wrong, but at what cost—and what acts of heroism define that cost?

In the same interview Frankie confirmed some good news following this question TeamXbox: “What new Halo reading material is coming—books, comics, etc.?” There’s certainly some things we’d like to go back and do. One of the most commonly-requested things is we want to find out what happened to the guys from “Ghosts of Onyx.” I can probably say that you will find out what happened to the guys from “Ghosts of Onyx.” I swear on my…life that you’ll find out.

Saturday, January 30

Game Informer has done a history of Halo. Here it is, in total, borrowed from the internet. Halo Reach Game News is not shy from borrowing from people who know more than him about halo. Check out this one I borrowed from Halo 101.

Here's that cheese knife you asked for, Marine. I made it special sharp!

Here's 'A soldier gets rained on'*. Which is a post modernist revisionist contemplation on how the rain symbolised the pain of the assault of the Elite troops on Reach and that no planet is an island. Or something. Either way artist Alex Chu claimed artistry braggin rights.

Thursday, January 28

Bungie have issued some new details on the weapons that will be found in Halo: Reach. Here's some news bout the Assault Rifle, Designated Marksman Rifle and the Needle Rifle which is a new Covenant weapon.

Assault Rifle

A certified stalwart in the UNSC’s arsenal, the Assault Rifle has scrubbed more than its fair share of Covenant scum up close and personal. First introduced with Halo: Combat Evolved, it missed a beat in Halo 2, but made its triumphant return to Halo 3 and by now you should know it’s making a return with a pretty significant visual overhaul in Halo: Reach.

“Everything has been touched in one way or another. That being said, some of the weapons had already gone through some serious iterations at this point in Halo’s life and so in some cases changes have been kept to a minimum. Either way, the visual face lift was worth its weight in gold. All the weapons, including the classics, are looking AMAZING!”
Designated Marksman Rifle

“The DMR, or Designated Marksman Rifle “is a medium-to-long range support weapon. In range and play style it fits between the Assault Rifle and Sniper Rifle in the Human sandbox. Powerful in skilled hands, its rewards the ‘gunfighter’ – the calm, accurate player, who like to be in the fight. Its primary role is to suppress snipers and soften opposition before the shock troops close.”

“The DMR is deadly accurate if you breathe through the shots and get into the rhythm of firing it, but it quickly falls apart if you freak out and really start slamming the trigger. A player with surgeon’s hands will be able to use it anywhere, anytime. Players that struggle with their composure in a heated fight however will find it better suited to working guys from a distance, picking off the sick and weak from the herd.”

And for those looking for that elegant weapon for a more civilized age, it looks like the DMR might be the implement of war you’re looking for.
Needle Rifle

Speaking of Covenant forces, Reach may be a UNSC military stronghold, but the Covenant war machine is at the height of its military power. The Needle Rifle is one of the more fearsome and unique weapons in their invasion force’s arsenal and a fitting counter to the Designated Marksman Rifle. It’s also one of the weapons we’ve revealed that seems to be surrounded with the most ambiguity. Let’s clear some stuff up.

“While it is very similar to the Carbine in several ways, including its ability to headshot (Unicorn!), it’s still 100% Needler and comes stock with the ability to super-combine when it comes in contact with your enemies and spread them like jam across a warm piece of toast. Unlike the Needler, the rounds don’t track your target…because that would just be ridiculous.”

“The Needle Rifle is the Covenant’s answer to the DMR. It’s a medium-to-long range weapon with powerful anti-shield damage. It’s faster and more accurate than the DMR, but doesn’t have the same stopping power. It’s a Blamite! super-combining weapon (three shots to an unshielded body) that can also score headshots.”

In other news I saw ACDC in Wellingtonlast night. Covenant forces wouldn't have been able to take them out!

Tuesday, January 26

What's the key to a good Halo game, and by implication, a good game of Halo: Reach?

Several elements are key. Here's a few of the ones I think would make a good game. See if you agree!

Noble soldiers

Keyes, Cole, Johnson and even the Arbiter are noble soldiers. They perform certain functions in the games to give them respect and nobility. If Johnson was an immoral wag, Halo fans would be turned off. Instead his noble death at the end of Halo 3 symbolised the strength of one man and thus humanity. Game players love that stuff.

A noble soldier who is also 7 foot tall

Take the above, wrap it with an augmented human who was stolen from his parents and forced to sought out ‘problems between humans without prejudice’. Then throw him on a strange Halo installation with Elites and Floods giving him all they’ve got. Let him fight the good fight in a most heroic fashion and save the day. In a sense. You’ve got a crowd pleaser and an instant Haloween costume favourite.

A great story with Plot Twists

Oohh, we need a key! Get the Key! Ohhh there’s the flood! Look out! Oooh there’s a mystery to solve! Oohh Why are we back on Earth? Oooh it’s a Cliff hanger ending?! Play as the bad guy and arbitrate? Don’t get out of the Warthog? There’s a traitor? It's a trap! Always something going on in the Halo story to keep everything going along, keeping the player’s (and buyer’s) interest. A huge back story, slowly drip feed into the canon ala the Terminals also a key to keeping people interested.

Classic one liner Quotes

I would have been your daddy, but that dog beat me over the fence / Wort Wort Wort! / I'm glad that food nipple is waiting for me on the starship cause man, have I worked up a big, grunty, thirst! / I know what the ladies like / Relax. I'd rather not piss this thing off / Don't they teach you kids to SWEAR in basic anymore? / Please... don't shake the light bulb! / Were it... so easy / You know they let me pick? Did I ever tell you that? Choose whichever Spartan I wanted / I heard their main weakness is bananas! / Do we have any bananas?

Lets face it, before Halo: CE there was the setting 'difficult', 'hard' or 'Hammer, please don't hurt 'em'. Legendary mode changed all that. It's now a badge of honour* (and some achievement points) to complete a Halo game on legendary. Points off if you do it with a friend. Unless she's hot.

Guns, Lots of Guns

You know in The Matrix when Neo gets taken to the place with all the guns? And how cool was that? Halo's guns are better.

Mulitplayer

Lets face it, if Halo CE did not have multiplayer net work, Halo would merely have been a ‘great’ Xbox game, not the game that spawned this generation’s Star Wars. Come for the campaign, stay for the multiplayer. Halo 2 nailed the format and was the reason Xbox Live became a flag ship for Microsoft.

There's way more to the Halo series, these are just the elements I think were key to making the games so good. What worked for you?

Check out these awesome new Halo Reach wallpapers. Designed for your iphone or other smart phone, they are shots taken from the recent trailer and what not that have been making their way onto the net. They were designed by Press X to Flop Console. Follow the link for more wall papers.

Press X to Flip Console is a pretty sweet gaming site actually, well it will be, it's fairly new - check out their Top 5 wants for Reach.

How to grab the wallpaper: Open the link to this page on your iphone. If you press on the image long enough, the iphone will ask you to do so, select "save image:. It will be saved to your camera roll section. Find that photo, open it and then select "use as wallpaper". You now have new Halo: Reach wallpaper!

The file reports are full of interesting info - a key point is that Kat and Carter are clearly upset about the team of a Spartan in their team and hold both themselves responsible for the death. This may be a plot element or reference in the Reach campaign.

Career soldier—but then all the Spartans are, aren’t they; inspires confidence in those around him—he is a combat multiplier! Rock solid; almost thirty years in the saddle and shows no signs of breaking or slowing; easygoing for someone from the class of ’25; need to keep an eye on him around XXX as he tends to be pretty free with his opinions.
COMMENTS:

Vocal in his support of provincial self-rule; just as vocal in his condemnation of the separatist and insurrectionist movements. Only member of the team that has seen as much action, if not more, against human militants as Covenant forces. Very difficult to read. ((NOTE: never play cards with JORGE.))

Exemplary combatant; brilliant cryptanalyst—there hasn’t been a system yet she hasn’t been able to crack. However, she does tend to dig a little deeper than mission parameters require on occasion—and there have been times when NOBLE’s proximity to classified matériel has made me rather nervous
.
COMMENTS:

S-320 is an inspired tactician; this is certainly related to her ability to acquire and digest information. There are times when S-320’s ability to read a situation—even with what many would consider cripplingly limited INTEL—could be described as supernatural. Unfortunately even having MAGICAL INTEL can’t protect you against a fatal lapse of situational awareness. To wit: S-293 was KIA during an OP that S-320 had put together [22/04/2552]; S-320 is now convinced that S-293’s death rests solely on her own shoulders (S-259 is likewise convinced that he is solely responsible for S-293’s death). Eventually I hope to be able to get it through their thick Spartan skulls that Thom is dead because he chose to pursue a group of enemy combatants ON HIS OWN rather than wait for backup.

NOTE:

S-320’s refusal to resubmit her certification for the P_A(r)/NCSI-AMA is more than a little frustrating. She says she submitted her certification papers on 04/08/2551 and refuses to budge. My records show that she qualified expert level with the P_A(r)/NCSI-AMA [04/07/2551], but LOGistics/Matériel Command claim they never received said notification and state that unless they receive said certification in a timely manner the P_A(r)/NCSI-AMA needs to be returned immediately. In the meantime there is no way for me to stop getting spammed from LOG/MC with reminders. This has been going on entirely too long.

Born leader; inspires confidence in those under his command. Cool under pressure. Has laser-like focus—even while maintaining flexibility/adaptability. Charismatic and reassuring; capable of interacting with non-Spartans effectively and efficiently (low/no stress issues).

COMMENTS:

Minor trust issues; not severe enough to warrant psychiatric reevaluation, but enough to be noted << stems from operator [S-293] under his command being KIA 22/04/2552. He attributes S-293’s death to his own “inadequate team preparation”— not to enemy action or S-293’s own lapse in situational awareness. Whether this is the source of his hesitation to commit to one of the replacements is unconfirmed at this time.

NOTE:

Perhaps replacing S-293 with the *1T271 from XXX group will get him back on track—he’s always at his best while building a team.

Meet Spartan XXX. ALA Lone Wolf. This is the character that you will play as during Halo: Reach. If you are the Covenant, this is the Spartan that is going to kick your space ass!

Lieutenant
Full Name: XXX, XXX

SERVICE #: S-312

Unit: SPECWAR/GroupTHREE/NOBLE

(P)MOS: 158A

Enlistment Date: CLASSIFIED

Location: CLASSIFIED

Gender: XXX

Birthplace: XXX, XXX

Birth Date: XXX/XXX/XXX

PERFORMANCE:

N/A

COMMENTS:

What little information I have been able to glean from around all of the redaction [note—I was quite literally expecting the ONI to start redacting page numbers] gives the impression that S-312 is more akin to a hyper-lethal vector than a soldier. A lone-wolf assassin that has broken organizations and made entire militia groups disappear. At first glance S-312 doesn’t sound like the best fit for a team environment like NOBLE. However, we’ve been down a man for over a month—and frankly there are hidden benefits to a XXX like S-312. Call it the luck of the draw. S-293’s 1156 has been filed since 22/04/2552, every active duty Spartan-II is on XXX for special training, and it seems that XXX wasn’t able to keep his own private grim reaper out of the pool—only time will tell if this luck is of the good or bad variety.

Meet Spartan JUN. His profile says he has "an unhealthy emotional detachment in regards to the consequences of his actions". You hear that Covenant bitches?

Warrant Officer

Full Name: XXX, JUN

SERVICE #: S-266

Unit: SPECWAR/GroupTHREE/NOBLE

(P)MOS: 180B

Enlistment Date: CLASSIFIED

Location: CLASSIFIED

Gender: M

Birthplace: TYUMEN, NEW HARMONY

Birth Date: 28/02/2524

PERFORMANCE:

Rock solid under pressure. Better than he has any right to be, but at least he isn’t cocky—which is a good thing because he’s chatty. This does tend to put him at odds with noise discipline protocols—his behavior in this regard is often overlooked by the other operators in the field because of the informational bent of his chatter.

COMMENTS:

During mandatory psychiatric evaluation [15/12/2549] it was noted by XXX that S-266 had “an unhealthy emotional detachment in regards to the consequences of his actions” – I can only suggest that this was done without any metric by which to measure said detachment. By my estimation Jun is a rationalist. He is also a Spartan.

NOTE:

Although it is noted in his medical records that he has exhibited symptoms of PTSD in the past there have been no indications of a relapse post-therapy [05/01/2550].

Meet EMILE. Warrant Officer and character in the Halo game, Reach. I did some hacking and got access to Emile's personal ONI file and in the interests of knowing all things Halo, I'm sharing it with you, dear Halo reader. Also, go Buy an Emile T-Shirt!

Respected by his peers; detail oriented; unbreakable. There’s not a whole lot more to mention; he is an effective member of the unit while in the field and maintains strict discipline off the field. It does seem that he tends to have more difficulty interacting with non-Spartans than others within NOBLE, however.

COMMENTS:

I wish he would reel his audacity in the field back about 24%. His behavior makes it difficult to field him against insurrectionists; it’s hard enough dealing with the stories of UNSC excess manufactured by the civilian media without S-239 providing them with hard evidence of said excess. That being said: It’s an odd feeling to be relieved that you are sending your people out against hostile aliens.

NOTE:

I may have to consider rotating S-344 into his spot if another IN/OP comes up before S-239’s next mandatory psychiatric reevaluation [REF:03/09/2552]. S-239’s collection of alien contraband is truly impressive. However, the existence of said collection is in direct violation of NAVCOM General Order 098831A-1/Sub_7. Good thing we’re ARMY.

Sunday, January 24

Edge has some comment from Bungie about the way they are using the Xbox 360's actual hardware and the AI Reach will have.

“The AI system is super robust, and is taken for granted as a rich simulation,” said community director Brian Jarrard. “A lot of people don't necessarily appreciate how much of a difference that makes in their experience, the fact that everything is simulated, nothing is bolted down. You can throw a grenade in a room and it's all physically simulated. Even in our giant environments you see films in which someone will throw a grenade and it will send a Warthog flying through the air and it'll kill someone on the other side of the map. It’s one of those things which is so hard and complicated to do, but it's just underlying the whole game. It's kind of delightful that people don't appreciate how hard that stuff is to make.”

Halo Reach's creative director, Marcus Lehto said “We are… taking every advantage of everything on the CPU and GPU, and every bit of memory in order to produce the look of Reach beyond anything of Halo 3.”

“We're pushing it as far as we can go. With every iteration we understand what more we can exploit with the hardware.”

Lehto also said: “The difference between the fully scripted experience, like Uncharted, or the organic experience you can receive in a Halo game speaks to its longevity. You can keep playing singleplayer missions over and over again and get a different experience. And it's certainly the case for multiplayer, which plays for years and years.”

And that's the thing - did you ever play Perfect Dark Zero when it came out when the Xbox was released? I thought the game sucked but my point its the graphics were below par. Now that people who make Xbox games have practically mastered how to utilize the resources the Xbox hardware offers, the standard one expects in terms of graphics for games have increased so high it's almost like people will never accept anything less than the last great game.

This is perhaps fair enough - in New Zealand big signature games cost 100 bucks - that's the high end anyway. People expect quality for their money.

So it's interesting to see Bungie talking about how they reckon they have the mechanics of the Xbox cracked - it only adds to the fuel and feverish speculation (and demand!) that Halo Reach's graphics will be the best in the Halo series yet.

The comments about AI are also interesting, I reckon CE set the standard and the other games are just trying to catch up to the pace the Halo series has set.

Thursday, January 21

Edge OnLine, a British Magazine has had their turn at some Halo Propaganda Pie. They had an opportunity for a sitd own with Bungie’s creative director Marcus Lehto, executive producer Joseph Tung and community director Brian Jarrard.

What follows is a Q&A with the three, obviously focusing on the Reach’s plot and things that go into making the game. After the responses to questions, I’ve added my own muddled thoughts.

Edge Online: Halo has always dealt with stories of doom - from Earth being invaded to Reach falling to the Covenant. How do you keep a sense of positivity for players?

Marus Lehto: It’s true that every one of the games has a very dark overtone, with humanity being in jeopardy. But at the heart of it, that’s what’s fun, because you, the player, get to be the hero who saves humanity. That’s the bright light at the end of the tunnel. Reach is similar - the actions of you and Noble Team, the sacrifices and pain that you go through, ultimately enable the events that transpire through Halo: Combat Evolved, and Halo 2 and 3. Without your efforts that would never happen.

Implication: They do something that only a Spartan can do. I.e. they gave nothing away.

So do players actually like being faced with such adversity?

ML: Reach is like Titanic - we know the end from the beginning. Reach is going to fall and 700 million people are going to perish as a result. It’s a very dark story to tell, and our goal is to allow the player to experience Noble Team’s efforts and get satisfaction from them continuing to fight forward and achieve the final acts of what we can’t talk about today. That success is what’s so gratifying at the end.

Implication: What a dumb question. Adversity is the basis of most video games.

With the events of Reach taking place before those of any other Halo, how are you explaining why we’ve never seen some of its enemies and weapons before?

ML: One of the justifications is - and this is one of the things we had to play with - during Reach we have both military forces, the Covenant and UNSC - at the height of their powers. They are coming to Reach with everything they have and the assumption is that some of these things never made it off the planet. They were rendered extinct by the end of it. That’s one of the fictional wrappers we’re using.

Wednesday, January 20

You may have heard there was a leaked video of the Halo Reach Beta out in the wilderness. HBO pointed out it was a fake. Bungie have upped the anti with a public service annnouncement of sorts:

"Not that it needs to be said, but as we march towards the Halo: Reach Xbox LIVE multiplayer beta you can be pretty certain that the Internet will inundate you with plenty of bogus information. If you want to avoid being duped, you should make sure your source is legit. Think Bungie.net, Xbox.com, and the whole host of print and online publications you traditionally expect to carry official coverage. Anything else should be met with healthy skepticism, upright eyebrows, and abject ridicule."

So there you have it. The beta vid is fake as Pamela Anderson's accoutrements.

In other news, Kotuku think that the ODST Mythic Maps will be available for download on XBL soon.

Here's a high detailed version of the new enemy, the Skirmishers who are a cousin of some kind to the Jackals that we all know from the Halo series. Do you like their hair cut?

The Skirmishers remind me of those Skekse creatures from the the Jim Henson movie, The Dark Crystal - which I'm sure many Halo fans have never seen because if you go on Xbox live, each and every Halo fan appears to be born after that movie came out! Here's the comparison shot:

Okay, moving along children, that's one scary skekse....

Here's a sweet shot of Lone Wolf. His stare is so.... intense is it not? Why so serious Spartan? Did Heath Ledger die or something?

And one more for the fanboys. OK, one more for me! A sneaky Spartan attempting an assassination! This just proves my theory that Reach is simply a rip off of the Assassin's Creed II game!

Maybe he’s into Johnny Cash. Cash fought for the man and against the Man – that’s why he was the Man in Black. Perhaps the Lone Wolf shares those views, one man against the Man (or Elite). As an aside, how does an Elite stick it to the Man? He glasses their planet!

Perhaps I’ve pegged the Wolf wrong. He might be a loner in the field but a hellraiser at the after party. He could be into ACDC and Metallica. After a hard days work popping grunt skulls, he pops in some Ride the Lightning and eases into party mode with a few burbons and following some advice from Avery Johnson, he gets it on with the lady Spartans cos he knows what they like?

Monday, January 18

What does this actually mean? Does it mean there’s a whole trove of unsold GI Joe figurines gathering dust at your nearest Wal Mart? Does it mean instead the kiddies are buying the new McFarlane range of Halo toys? I hear theCortana version in a sexy pose is a hot seller. Does it mean the Xbox is the new imagination land where game designers tell you what to think? Is Halo the Borg, assimilating every player into it's universe? Bungie's ultimate goal is world domination of course.

It means Halo is king of the sand pit and those G.I. Joes just got the sand kicked in their eyes. ..

Killing Elites on legendary mode makes you a champion. Playing with plastic dolls makes you…. not cool. What’s the choice?

Or is the reason that kids don’t play with G.I. Joes anymore because the movie sucked?